One Step At A Time
by AFH-HHHiii
Summary: After an accident lands Astrid in a wheelchair, she struggles with learning to live with it. With the help from Hiccup and her friends, she learns that being in a wheelchair isn't as bad, or as hard, as she had thought.


_**A/N: I got full permission from jack-frostitutes to do this. She did the original one shot/drabble on tumblr and was thinking of turning it into a chapter story. I asked her if I could, and she gave the okay. She even helped write this, and I thank her for that!**_

_**If you haven't read her stories before, check her out! She's amazing!**_

_**Now, on to the story.**_

_**One Step At A Time**_

_**Chapter One**_

Astrid had been out for a run that morning. It wasn't anything new. She always ran in the morning, and she always ran the same path. There had never been a problem with it before.

Today seemed to be different.

She stopped on the sidewalk, catching her breath before looking both ways. There were some cars a good distance away.

She took off across the road.

That's the last thing Astrid can remember.

She opened her eyes, blinking repeatedly trying to clear her eyes. She looked around seeing nothing but white. Everything was still blurry. _Why _is it so blurry?

Her head feels heavy. Her eyes feel heavy. _She _feels tired. Astrid looked around. So much white. Since when does her house have this much white?

That's when she heard the beeping. That annoying beeping that she remembers hearing when Hiccup was in the hospital.

The hospital? Why is she in the hospital?

She felt someone move by her bed and looked down. Hiccup. Of course he'd be here.

Astrid opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Her throat feels dry. She slowly reached over, which took more effort than she had expected, and rested her hand on the back of Hiccup's neck.

Hiccup stirred, mumbling something unintelligible before lifting his head and looking at her "Astrid?"

Astrid tried to nod, but when she realized that even moving her head was a lot of work, she decided to try and talk again "Can you get me some water?"

Hiccup nodded quickly, standing and going to get some water.

He walked back into the room a few seconds later, a pitcher of water in one hand and a cup in the other. He poured some for her, and pressed it to her lips.

Astrid smacked her lips together. A smile formed on her lips as she looked at him "Why do you look so exhausted?"

"Why? Astrid... What do – do you not remember what happened?"

Astrid's eyebrows furrowed in confusion "No... What happened?"

Hiccup sat back down, reaching over and taking her hand in his. He messed with her fingers as he thought of the best way to tell her... There isn't any good way to tell someone this, is there? He looked over at her face and sighed "You were... It's been three weeks, Astrid. You've been out for three weeks. _I _was about to go crazy."

Astrid's smile fell as she watched his face. Out? She's been... In a coma for _three _weeks? _What _happened to her?

"You were out on your morning run, getting ready to cross the street. You're usually so careful about it. It was... It was a hit and run. They hit you, and just kept going. It was on the back road that you like going down because there aren't usually any cars."

Astrid took a minute for it to sink in. She was _hit _by a _car_?

"I got worried when you didn't come back. I took Stormfly and Toothless, and we came looking for you. No one had come down the road, and we were lucky to find you when we did."

Astrid curled her hand around Hiccup's before pulling it away. Did he save her? She could have been hit by multiple cars if Hiccup hadn't gone looking for her.

"_I _was involved in a hit and run?" she brought her hands up to her face. Maybe she had cuts? Scars? Anything?

She dropped her hands in her lap when she only felt a few scratches and a bandage around her head. She was hit by a car, of course she'd have some type of head damage. Then, she frowned. Why did it feel weird when she touched her lap? She lifted a hand up, poking at her thigh and moving down her legs. _Numb. _Her legs are.. Numb.

"I can't... I can't feel my legs." her eyes widened and she looked up at Hiccup "_Why _can't I feel my legs?!"

Astrid was starting to panic. Her legs shouldn't be numb. She should be able to feel them! Having numb legs has to be a bad thing, right? She looked back down at her legs before looking back at Hiccup "_Hiccup!_"

"You aren't going to like this."

"_Tell me._"

Hiccup sighed, reaching forward and resting his hand on her knee. Astrid stared at it. She had always liked being able to feel his hand. _Maybe _she'll get lucky and it'll be a temporary thing?

"You – the car – when you got hit, it shattered your spinal cord. I mean, you also broke some ribs and punctured your lungs, but.. Because you shattered your spinal cord, you're -" Astrid didn't need to hear the rest. She knew where this was going. This _can't _happen to her "Astrid... You won't... You aren't – you're _paralyzed_ now, Astrid."

Couldn't he have at least tried to put it nicer? He was so... Blunt about it "I'm... Paralyzed?"

"From the waist down."

Astrid's breath quickened. This was all so much news for her to take it. She was involved in a hit and run, she's paralyzed? She's _never _going to be able to play soccer again? Or run? How is she even going to get around her house? They have _stairs. _

Hiccup is going to have to do... Everything for her. He's going to have to make his life revolve around her?

"Astrid?"

"What am I going to do?" Hiccup opened his mouth to answer, but Astrid continued talking "I.. I'm not going to be able to walk down the aisle for our wedding, am I?"

Hiccup hesitated before shrugged "We aren't sure yet? You could be fully paralyzed, or it could temporary.. You'll be here for a bit. You have to go to therapy."

Astrid was staring – no, glaring, at her legs. Therapy? How is a _doctor _not sure if she's fully paralyzed or not? She only has four months until her wedding... Or are they putting that off? Astrid has never felt so.. Upset before? Angry?

Why did this have to happen to her?

What did Astrid do to deserve this?

"Astrid." Hiccup's voice broke her out of her thoughts. She looked over at him, doing her best to keep herself from shedding a tear in front of him "There's more." she let out a groan. What else could there be that he hasn't told her? She stared at his face, waiting for him to talk "The cops said that _maybe_ it was foul play?"

"_Foul play? _Are you kidding me?! They really think someone was _planning _this?!"

Hiccup shrugged. When the cops had asked him if Astrid had any _enemies _he was almost shocked. Sure, Astrid has a violent streak and she's punched half of Berk, but she doesn't have _enemies? _

"They didn't _say _that, but it was heavily implied that they think someone may have planned this."

Astrid shook her head. Why would anyone want her... _Gone_? She hasn't been that terrible to people. Well... Hiccup, yeah, but she's been with him for years. He's seen her when she was her angriest. She was turned around and almost decked him in the face once because she was so mad, and then proceed to let her abuse his shoulder. It took a while for his shoulder to heal, and he was almost sure that she had dislocated it.

"Who... Who would do that?"

Hiccup reached forward, running his hand through her hair and giving her a smile "We'll talk about it later, okay? Get some rest."

Astrid could only nod. She _had _taken in a lot of information since she woke up, and she was pretty tired. She needed the rest, Hiccup wouldn't leave her side, she knows that.

All she knows now is that she has to be more careful when alone, and that that accident had changed her life, possibly forever.


End file.
